What I Hate: From A to Z

by Roz Chast

The pages of the New Yorker are hallowed ground for cartoonists, and for the last thirty years, Roz Chast has helped set the magazine's cartooning standard, while creating work that is unmistakably her own- characterized by her shaggy lines, an ecstatic way with words, and her characters' histrionic masks of urban and suburban anxiety, bedragglement, and elation.
What I Hate is an A to Z of epic horrors and daily unpleasantries, including but by no means limited to rabies, abduction, tunnels, and the triple-layered terror of Jell-O 1-2-3. With never-before-published, full-page cartoons for every letter, and supplemental text to make sure the proper fear is instilled in every heart, Chast's alphabetical compendium will resonate with anyone well-versed in the art of avoidance- and make an instructive gift for anyone who might be approaching life with unhealthy unconcern.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Humor, Comics, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Memoir, Adult

64 pages, Hardcover

First published October 11, 2011

About the author

Rosalind "Roz" Chast is an American cartoonist and a staff cartoonist for The New Yorker. She grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, the only child of an assistant principal and a high school teacher. Her earliest cartoons were published in Christopher Street and The Village Voice. In 1978 The New Yorker accepted one of her cartoons and has since published more than 800. She also publishes cartoons in Scientific American and the Harvard Business Review.

Chast is a graduate of Midwood High School in Brooklyn. She first attended Kirkland College (which later merged with Hamilton College) and then studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and received a BFA in painting in 1977. She also holds honorary doctorates from Pratt Institute and Dartmouth College, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is represented by the Danese/Corey gallery in Chelsea, New York City.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, since I just read two very positive and inspiring books, The Bluest Blue and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me (yes, both positive, trust me), this hit me a little bit off. It reminded me of Chast's own book title, Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? To her credit, she is in good company, in writing about deepest fears and anxieties, but all these are better:

Fran Krause's Deep Dark Fears by Fran Krause
Edward Gorey's Gashlycrumb Tinies (a ghastly/hilarious alphabet book where every letter is the contortion of a dead human)
Lynda Barry's 100 Demons

But this IS Roz Chast, and so it's still good. It's funny that she hates balloons, elevators, jello, and kites, because those are surprising, but to not like illness, getting lost, meat, nightmares, quicksand, undertow? Exactly. Not that funny.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book for adults takes a short, humorous look at anxieties and fears. Chast and I didn't fully synch until T for Tunnels. A tunnel through a mountain is no big deal for me, but a tunnel under water is MADNESS!!!! Mountains just want to sit there and rest, but water wants to kill you...always. And given enough time, it will find a way to reach you.

If you like this, try Deep Dark Fears.

[Caterina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun with Anxiety.
(Why did I read this before bed, why, why why ... ???)
8=O

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Roz and I might be distant cousins, or sisters separated at birth. Right; I wish. This little book is a great pick-me-up if you're in a down mood and need to laugh and smile.
I currently have a library copy but I want to get my own and keep it on my night table. This way I can grab it for emergency down moments.
Some of my favorites of her "fears" or "hates" are elevators, quicksand, and rabies. She's right about kids books also being censored for illnesses. Oh, and definitely tunnels make perfect sense to me. And the "undertow" which I heard about every summer as a kid and finally experienced when I was about 14 yo. They were right, it's real and frightening. It took all the young strength I had to get back to shore.
And lastly, water bugs. Why are they so huge? I was at work in NYC at the time and it was sitting in my boss's wooden in-box on the desk. A few of us screamed. Somebody said, "relax it's just a waterbug." No one wanted to kill it because it was big and crunchy. I think one of the older guys picked up the box and took it outside. I'm not sure, didn't really want to know.
Anyway Roz's little book is wonderful.

[Briana · Rating 4 out of 5]

**ACTUAL RATING = 4.5 STARS**

This book was pretty freakin funny. She uses the alphabet as a guide to illustrate her anxieties. For example, A is for Alien Abduction. Each letter has a little blurb about the anxiety and an illustration of the anxiety. I think the blurbs were funnier than the drawings. I definitely related with 90% of her worries. The only disappointment I have is that the book was too short. Not much could be done about that because the alphabet isn't that long. Sigh. It looks like this book retails for ~$15.00. I would never pay to buy it, but I will gladly take it for free =D Not that this benefits the author much, but anyone can just go to a bookstore and read this book in like 5-10 minutes. =X No purchase necessary!


Woot!!!!!!! I just won this book on Goodreads Giveaways! I can't wait to read it! Thank you for the opportunity to win great books!! <3

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful but ultimately rather trifling effort from the great Roz Chast. I think this would have been better had the illustrations been printed in full color (they were obviously originally executed in watercolors) and perhaps with a little more content. As it is there are some laugh out loud moments and I truly identified with some of the fears Chast explores here (nothing like driving in tunnels that extend DEEP UNDERGROUND, BELOW A BODY OF WATER for a horrifying taste of what it must be like to be buried alive - shudder). So yeah, fun to be had here, but this reaches nowhere near the heights of her 80's masterpieces like Unscientific Americans or Parallel Universes and feels curiously incomplete, as if Chast could have gone deeper. Final rating is actually **1/2 but as no half stars available on GR and this is ROZ CHAST, come on, she gets the extra half star.

[Licha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is this a picture book for kids or adults? Wasn't quite sure. It's not cute enough, or has better illustrations, or has that cool/wow factor to be a kids' book. It's too simple, obvious, and not funny enough to feel like a picture book for adults. It was just meh.

Q=quicksand X=x-rays Y=yellow Z=the letter Z itself

Not very impressed with the above alphabet selections. Shows no creativity whatsoever. In fact, most of the letter selections are obvious.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If you are the sort of person who never worries about spontaneous combustion, has fun at carnivals, and thinks that the shape of a hammerhead shark's head is just fine the way it is, that's terrific. I'm happy for you. This book is for everyone else."

[Jaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny...but maybe not. Some of these things hit close to home.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a hater by nature and thus love the very concept of this book. Although Chast is really describing things that give her anxiety. Agree with elevators and water bugs. Disagree with carnivals and the color yellow.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing picture book for adults done in Roz Chast's signature style. There were parts that made me laugh out loud. A quick bedtime read (or not), recounting "epic horrors and daily unpleasantries."

[Emmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chast's books are so weird and anxiety-inducing and they always make me laugh. This was not my favorite of her books, but it had that same weird brand of humor and I enjoyed reading it.

[Vio · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roz's hates are really her fears, and her fears led to an A-Z page by page conversation with my 5 year old cousin about what we are and aren't afraid of and why, and how scary things like lightning and heights can both be beautiful and scary, or more beautiful exactly because they're scary. Also my cousin pointed out that on the cover the annoying kid offering a balloon (Roz hates the insistent cheerfulness of balloons and fears their imminent explosion) was the one frightening the "villain" from Munch's The Scream. She thought that was ironic and hilarious. Our fears are absurd. Also, when we got to Roz's fear of Z, or The End or Nothing More my cousin was briefly perplexed. I took a risk for such a young child and said "I think she's actually talking about death." My cousin gave a grave nod and said "I think she is." then paused to reflect quietly for a moment. Art, man. Thanks Roz.

[Cell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are quite charming, and hilarious. Though if you are the type of person who worries about everything, you probably shouldn't read this book as it will make you worse.
I have my fair share of anxieties and some were covered in this book. It's a lovely quick read full of humor... and a bit of dread.
I mentioned over reacting and my anxieties. Well when I was reading "S" which in this book is for spontaneous combustion, just as I read the word "Boom" something in my apartment decided that would be the perfect time to fall and make a "boom" of it's own. I swear for a split second I thought I was about to burst into flames. After the scare I laughed and went back to reading. :)

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is what I love about the library. This was on a cart for our displays and I picked it up because the title is funny and very grinchy for this time of year. I also just recently read "Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant" and it was very funny and moving.

From the back "If you are the sort of person who never worries about spontaneous combustion, has fun at carnivals, and thinks the shape of a hammerhead shark's head is just fine the way it is, that's terrific. I'm happy for you. This book is for everyone else.

The book came to be because the author often makes alphabetical lists while trying to go to sleep. Favorite rock bands, fruit, prescription drugs, diseases, flowers, birds, etc. And she decided to make an alphabetical list of the things she hates.

[Yvensong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the paperback ARC version of this book. Same ISBN

I enjoyed this clever, humorous look at different anxieties that the author claims to have (and I share many, if not all, to some degree or another). She depicts these with a little commentary and an accompanying cartoon.

I will definitely look for more of Roz Chast's publications.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun A to Z Alphabet Book for Grown Ups by well known New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast. Includes a cartoon for each item on the alphabetized things that Roz hates, as well as a short comedic vignette. Some items, like Spontaneous Human Combustion, are obvious hates, but the funniest items on the list are the more benign things to hate. Like balloons.

[Katie guare · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a list of things she hates due to the fact that they cause her anxiety and as an anxious person myself I either found myself agreeing with her or using her book as a guide for things i should fear. I found this to be a very relatable, cute, and funny book.

[Adrianne Mathiowetz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly amusing but in a kind of tired way, like watching Seinfeld in 2009. "What's the deal with ..."

I guess I wanted more of the hated things to be unexpected -- the explanations next to the drawings often felt unnecessary. Teach me to hate new stuff!

[Marjorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

good silly fun.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read from one of my favorite author/illustrators. Alphabetical list of things she hates and I honestly can't disagree with any of them.

[Amy Discenza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roz Chast speaks my language.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean, she’s just the best.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this - and I have to agree with at least half of it. Definitely a good chuckle.

[jada alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

i just love chast's sense of humor & illustrations. grateful for her comics :-)

[Relyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the funniest, weirdest A to Z book I've ever read.

[Julie Grace Immink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fears going blind in the dark and eating Jello 1-2-3.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got to read the whole book as the original pages at an art exhibit!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m there with you. My favorite: Jello-1-2-3.